Kaleidoscope Life
by LateNightConversations
Summary: After a bounty goes awry Spike has time to ponder everyday things. Companion piece to Slow to Learn, as well as an upcoming fic.
1. Chapter 1

Soaking wet and dejected Spike Spiegel trudged into the old fishing ship the Bebop. With a groan he peeled off his trench coat, dropping it to the floor beside the door, it landed with a soggy splat. The jacket of his suit soon joining it, as well as his boots and socks.

"Hello? Anyone home? Jet? Ed? Faye?"

No answer, except the faint clicking of nails on the metal floor. _Guess the dog is the only one here._ Sighing heavily he ran his hands over his wet hair that was now plastered to his forehead.

The bounty was supposed to be an easy pick up, a small fry, but still a decent enough chunk of change to make it worth his while. He would have had the little shit too, if trigger happy Faye hadn't screwed things up. They had followed him into the bar, sat and had a couple drinks while watching him make a few drug deals. As soon as the bounty slipped out the back they had followed. Spike distinctively remembered telling Faye to stay down and wait, but no….instead she had gone in guns a blazing, startling their bounty. Spike had chased him down the alley way and half way across town, before ending up under a building with a busted gutter, losing sight of the bounty and ending up soaked. At that point he gave and returned back to the ship.

Making his way to the bathroom, he loosened his tie, and rolled up his sleeves, turning on the cold water and splashing his face. Looking in the mirror, he stared back into his own brown eyes, he arched an eyebrow and studied his reflection, which in turn studied him back. Mismatched brown stared back into mismatched brown. Colors, they really were everywhere, his mind wondered onto the strange topic. Brown eyes, and at this point he could think of something else brown and 80 proof that would make the night better. Trudging out of the bathroom he tripped over Ein, hitting the floor hard. "Christ Ein! Do you have to lay right there?!" Pulling himself up, he glanced down at the dog and smirked. He really needed that drink now_. Ein's fur was brown too_.

Rummaging through the cupboards the lanky man sighed in frustration.

"Where the hell is it? I swear to god if that woman swiped it I'm gonna kill her" Digging in the back behind the bag of dog food his fingers finally hit smooth glass. _That's right, I knew she wouldn't find it there. She wouldn't dare feed the dog._ Pulling out the bottle of whiskey his smirk grew into a full blown smile. _Jack pot_. Rummaging through the other cupboard he grabbed a glass and set it on the counter as he set to pour himself a strong one. As an after thought he put it back, opting to drink straight from the bottle. Unscrewing the cap he took a sip, and headed for the couch.


	2. Chapter 2

Mismatched brown eyes watched the rotating blades of the ceiling fan as if in a trance. Spike sat on the beat up yellow couch, his bare feet propped up on the coffee table, bottle of whiskey cradled in his lap. Glancing down at the bottle in his lap, he thought about his suit, it was blue. Lots of things in life were blue. The sky on a clear day was blue. The kind of day that made you feel like anything and everything was possible. Those kind of days usually gave way to rain, and the reminder that sometimes life isn't all sunshine and happiness. Julia has the most amazing blue eyes. Spike took a long drink and sighed. Correction, she had the most amazing blue eyes. Come to think of it, Jet had blue eyes too. Faye always hated when Ed tried to paint her nails blue. Taking another sip, Spike studied the bottle, maybe this would be enough to chase away the blues.

Red, now there was a nice color. The Swordfish was red, man how he loved that ship. It could take one hell of a beating, but somehow managed to never let him down. If only people could be more like that. The dust that covered everything on the outskirts of Mars was red. Blood was red, god only knew he had seen far to much of that in his life time. Ed's hair was red, well reddish. So where stop lights, the sky at sunset, and Faye's sweater. _God damn woman, get out of my head! _His eyes scanned around the room, and noticed a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his boot across the room.

Yellow, the gum was yellow. Taking a gulp larger than he meant to, Spike sputtered a bit, wincing slightly at the burn. The rays of early morning sunshine looked soft and golden yellow, just like Julia's hair had been. Sighing, he reached for a cigarette. Lighting it, he took a long drag, watching the cloud of smoke rise toward the spinning blade of the fan as he exhaled. That gaudy outfit Faye wore was yellow. It left little to the imagination, that much was certain. In fact just this very morning she has been bent over searching for something on the bottom shelf of the fridge and…._Jesus man, get yourself together. _

"Uhh….another color.."

Green, yes green. The color of money, jealousy, and envy. Spike pondered for a moment if anyone was jealous or envious of him. The thought alone was enough to make him chuckle as he took another drag off his cigarette. He highly doubted anyone ever had been. Jet's bonsais were green. How a man could find sanity spending time pruning those little things was something Spike could never wrap his head around. He had tried to imagine himself once caring for the little potted army, but the image had ended with him upturning all the plants and throwing the clippers across the room. Taking another long pull from the bottle, he returned to its position in his lap and continued to smoke. Faye's eyes were green, yes they most definitely were. Mischievous, bright, seductive, mysterious, beautiful. Spike almost choked on the smoke he had inhaled. _Faye's eyes beautiful? What the hell…_

"Damn it, you're not even here and you're irritating me."

Spike laid his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

"Faye…Faye Valentine" a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open at the sound of the main hatch opening. He suddenly realized why she had been invading his thoughts.

"Shit!..Faye…" he had failed to tell her that he was returning to the Bebop. He could only imagine how incredibly pissed she was going to be.

As expected with in a few minutes there she stood in all her pissed off glory, soaking wet from head to toe, those green eyes that Spike had been lost in thought over just minutes ago, filled with anger.

"So when in the hell were you planning on telling me that you came back home?!"

She took a step closer. "And why didn't you answer your communicator?"

He took another drink. "I left it on the Swordfish."

"Oh well that's nice Spike. Real nice. Ya know I spent the last few hours looking for you. Ya know I thought, oh I dunno, maybe you were dead in some alley or something. Not that you really appreciate my concern. I'll remember that next time jack ass."

Half way through her rant Spike had zoned out, just staring at her. He couldn't help but notice her hair plastered to her face, her clothes clinging to her like a second skin, and that little drop of water that was making its way down her neck. _She looks kinda hot right now. _He lifted the bottle to check how much was gone. _God I must be drunk._

"Spike! Hello…are you even listening to me?"

Spike snapped out of his reverie. Noticing that Faye was now standing beside him "Uhh….yeah"

She reached out and snatched the bottle from him, taking a long drink before setting it down on the table. "Whatever Lunkhead. I'm going to get out of these wet clothes before I freeze to death"

With that she stormed off down the hall. Spike intertwined his heads behind his head and closed his eyes once more. _Finally, peace and quiet again. That's more like it._


	3. Chapter 3

Peace and quiet was something that rarely existed on the Bebop, unless one was totally alone, which seldom occurred. As if on cue, the silence was shattered by a slamming door, Spike heard familiar foot steps down the hall, and felt a light weight plop down on the couch. Opening his eyes slightly, he glanced sideways toward his violet haired comrade beside him. She was wearing shorts, and a too big t-shirt, a t-shirt that he recognized as his own. He let his sidelong glance travel up her leg, to her thigh, to the hem of her shorts; though his vision was quickly diverted to her hand as she reached to the table to steal one of his smokes. Rolling his eyes at her action, he shifted to face her. "Faye, do you ever think about colors?"

Faye watched Spike light a cigarette of his own, as she smoked and pondered his question. "Are you drunk?"

Spike shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But do you?"

"What are you getting at?"

Taking a long drag off his smoke, Spike passed the bottle of whiskey to Faye. " What comes to mind when you think about the color blue?"

Taking a sip off the bottle, Faye turned her eyes toward the ceiling, as if it held all the answers. "My mother and grandmother both had blue eyes. They were really lovely women from what I remember." Spike noticed the slight sad edge to her voice as she continued. " It makes me think of blueberries, I love those. Blue reminds me of the kind of mood that makes people drink like this." She took another drink and handed the bottle back. Spike tipped the bottle toward her, before he took a sip. "Amen to that." He passed the bottle back to Faye. "What about red?"

Faye cradled the bottle in her lap as she finished off the last of her cigarette. "Hmm…red? Cherries, lipstick, the end of a cigarette smoked in the dark. Your face when you've had too much to drink." A playful smirked tugged at the corner of her lips.

Spike brought his hand up to his cheek, he could feel the warmth of his alcohol flushed face. _Drunk? Not quite, but definitely getting there. _

Faye took a much longer drink off the bottle than intended, she fought to stifle a cough and gag, as she swallowed hard. _Screw it! _Between the bounty getting away, and Spike ditching her out in the rain, Faye felt she could use a drink, or five. Passing the bottle back, Faye couldn't help but notice that Spike had moved closer, his eyes studying her intently.

"What about yellow?"

Spike was in mid sip when Faye snatched the bottle back from him, and took a second long drink, before setting the bottle down on the table. She then inched closer to Spike, nimble fingers toying with the collar of his shirt. "Your shirt is yellow.." Her words sounded slightly distracted. Her brow furrowed in concentration, as slender fingers gripped the fabric. Faye could feel the heavy buzz of the whiskey setting in, as her drinking caught up with her. "Your shirt really is yellow." With that she pulled him forward, catching Spike off guard as she pressed her lips to his.

Spike's mind was reeling, but it didn't take him long to respond to her kiss. He smirked against her lips slightly, surprised that they were much softer than he could have ever imagined. Slowly he pulled back, his eyes locked on hers, both their faces flushed from more than the alcohol they had consumed.

Faye quickly straightened up and turned her gaze straight ahead, Spike quickly followed suit, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "Hey Faye?"

"Hmmm..?"

"Did you really spend that whole time looking for me tonight?"

Faye remained silent, he eyes falling down to her hands, she nodded slowly. "Yeah…I was kind of worried about you."

Spike pondered over her sudden openness, as he reached over to the table, plucking two cigarettes out of the pack. Lightly one, he offered the other to Faye, who hesitantly accepted it. "It's kinda nice to know that someone cares enough to worry."

Faye smiled faintly as she lit her smoke. "It is"

Spike nodded, but both remained quiet for the remainder of their cigarettes. Enjoying the moment smoking in companionable silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Steady, heavy footfalls echoed down the hall way of the old fishing vessel, as Jet Black made his way toward the living room of the Bebop. The first thing that met his steely gaze was an almost empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table. Picking it up and examining the contents, he saw that only a small swig of the intoxicating amber liquid remained. The sound of a loud snore caught his attention quickly, and his eyes fell on a sight he was not prepared for.

Spike and Faye were both passed out on the couch, Spike was snoring away, and Ein laid sprawled out in front of the couch. Jet rubbed the back of his balding head, he was sure that the bottle that he now held in his hand was responsible for this sight. Looking over the bottle once more, he pushed back any nagging thoughts that most of the contents could have been merely back wash, and drained the rest in a large gulp. Setting the empty bottle back on the table, he turned his attention back to his sleeping comrades.

Spike had both feet planted firmly on the floor, though his body was slumped low on the couch, his head bent at an awkward angle, resting on the arm of the couch. Faye laid on her back, her head against Spike's stomach. Violet hair splayed against a pale yellow shirt, quite the contrast. Her legs dangled over the opposite arm of the couch, Spike's hand rested on her hip, her own hand resting on top of his hand.

Jet shook his head. "I don't even want to know….I really don't. You two look like a damn shit show." The older man sighed, these two needed to get over themselves and figure things out. Flipping off the lights, he left, heading off to his room.

Spike shifted, slowly straightening himself up, rolling his head a bit, trying to stave off the stiffness that had started to form in his neck. Groggily he opened his eyes, his gaze falling downward to Faye's sleeping form, in his shifting her head had slid into his lap. The last thing he remembered they had been talking about random nonsense, apparently sometime between then and there they had fallen asleep. The room was dark, though he didn't remember turning off the lights, maybe Faye had after he passed out. A new thought then crept its way into his mind, if she had turned out the lights, why had she come back to the couch?

Spike had found himself questioning her actions a lot lately, and even more so his own actions. In the ten months that he had been back on the bebop, since the whole syndicate nightmare was laid to rest, he had felt himself slowly changing. He wasn't sure if he liked that or not, but why fight the inevitable? Living that way had sure done a number on him in the past, it was about time he tried a new route.

Slowly removing his hand from under Faye's and off of her hip, Spike reached around to the back of the couch, pulling down a blanket that sat atop it. Dragging it over Faye, he studied her sleeping face. She looked peaceful, but he already knew that. He had spent time doing this exact same thing not too long ago during their makeshift camping weekend. Spike couldn't deny that he and Faye had slowly started to become pretty good friends. They still could bicker with the best of them, both knowing exactly how to set the other off, they would casually flirt from time to time, and once in a while both would let down the façade they created, and share something personal with the other.

Gently Spike brushed a stray piece of hair out of Faye's face. _What are you doing to me woman?_ He knew exactly what she was doing to him. She was making him start to care. Well, on second thought, he had cared about them all long before he left to face Vicious, but lately Faye seemed to have this awful ability to make him think about feelings in depth, especially when it came to her.

Laying his head back against the couch, Spike smirked. He had done more than enough thinking for one day. "G'night Faye" he mumbled, closing his eyes tightly, making note that all he saw was black. It didn't take long however for sleep to take over, as black faded to sleep without colors. And for that he was grateful.


End file.
